ABOUT

WHEN MUSIC POPS, WE TURN IT UP

First published in 2003, PopBytes is an honest-to-goodness music blog direct from Los Angeles! Founder and editor-in-chief MK and company cover what really matters … MUSIC, plus tidbits on (quality) TV, film and theater. At PopBytes, you’ll never know what tunes will pop into your ears next … updated with love and affection for over fifteen years.

Michael Knudsen (preferred nickname MK) founded PopBytes in 2003–striking at the right time to enjoy the blogosphere before corporate giants started buying into the system. He currently lives in Los Angeles (Hollywood to be exact) with his husband Ivan, four dogs (Fidel, Candy, Margot & Pickles), four cats (Mitzi, Mindy, Charlie & Heidi), plus two Amazon parrots (Max & Wally).

Before taking on Los Angeles, Michael grew up on Long Island and lived in New York City from 1994 to 2001, where he attended Marymount Manhattan College for his undergrad degree in Communication Arts, then went on to receive his Masters in Media Studies at The New School.

Right now, he’s all about: obsessing over his vinyl record collection, attending concerts, watching quality TV (reality shows have left the building), keeping up with his top artists—Tori Amos, Marina and the Diamonds, Robyn, Indigo Girls, Björk, Madonna, Courtney Love—and is currently revamping PopBytes with a much stronger focus on what he loves best–MUSIC.

Alex Nagorski: When Alex was nine, he tried everything he could think of to publish his first memoir: a fully illustrated account of his conversations with Harold, the talking shovel who lived in the neighborhood playground’s sandbox. Years later, his life story is still unpublished and he feels slightly nostalgic over anything that digs. During the week, he works in Program Advertising at HBO. On weekends, you can find him watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia marathons, thinking of ways to become Kate Winslet’s best friend or crying about the nutrition facts of Momofuku cookies. Follow Alex on Twitter: @AlexNagorski and visit his website, Headphone Infatuation.